PARIS – Town employees may find themselves carrying insurance cards from Aetna instead of Anthem come the first of the new year.

The Board of Selectmen has approved the switch in insurance providers, which will go forward if ratified by Teamsters union Local 34, interim Town Manager Elisa Whiteley said.

The change comes in response to rising insurance costs. The current Anthem policy covering town employees costs $13,290 per month, Whiteley said.

In 2005, the policy price is expected to jump to $15,180 per month.

Aetna, on the other hand, has quoted the town a rate of $11,760 per month for 2005. “The policies are the same other than the fact that the Aetna plan has eye care,” Whiteley said.

She said the policy would cover 18 town employees and some of their dependents. The town pays 100 percent of insurance costs for town employees, she said, and 80 percent of the costs for dependents.

Paris Selectman Bruce Hanson at a Nov. 22 meeting acknowledged that the Aetna policy was reasonable. “I wish we could enter into a three-year contract for that price,” he said.

Whiteley said Monday that she has not heard back from the Teamsters union, but the town has until Jan. 1 to change its insurance provider.

The town reviews its insurance policy each year, she said.